


Grima's Pawn

by IChallengeMyFate (Ealdremen)



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-02-13
Packaged: 2018-03-12 05:50:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3345899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ealdremen/pseuds/IChallengeMyFate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kjelle, Brady, and Gerome confront a traitorous Morgan just prior to leaving for the past through the Outrealm Gate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grima's Pawn

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on ichallengemyfate.tumblr.com.

The wyvern’s tail slammed into Morgan’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Morgan’s near-perpetual smile left his face as he gasped in pain, and he fell to the cobblestone ground with a hard thud. Just as he pushed himself to his feet, ready to dart behind some of the ruins for cover, a heavily-armored body slammed into him. He landed on his back, hitting his head on the remnants of the destroyed road. Dazed, Morgan hardly knew what was happening when Kjelle’s spear was pointed squarely between his eyes.

“You’ve lost,” Kjelle declared, her unyielding gaze fierce and cold.

She was out of breath, no doubt from chasing Morgan around and contending with his Risen minions with all that heavy armor on, but her earlier wounds were gone. He frowned, knowing that he had seen an Entombed slash her across the face. Morgan craned his neck; he could spot Brady loitering not too far behind her, his staff still pulsing with the faint aura of magic. But even this slight movement was enough to make Kjelle jab the spear closer to him.

“Kjelle,” Gerome began, his voice low but urgent, “what should we do? We can’t take him prisoner… He could just escape when we go through the gate. And we can’t have a traitor with us…”

Morgan opened his mouth to respond, but Kjelle moved her spear to his neck. Taking that as a warning, he sunk back down. Yet even when faced with imminent death, he couldn’t help but smile. If they had planned to kill Morgan immediately, they would have done so already. They were putting it off, trying to justify it first. The longer they lingered here, the more time Grima had to get into position. It was all going according to plan – surely they thought they had stopped Morgan, but the reality was that they had played right into Grima’s hands.

The plan had been too cunning, too simple – all it took was for Morgan to be in the right place at the right time. Exactly as Grima had said, Lucina had sent some of her remaining soldiers to fend off the approaching Risen to prevent them from entering the Outrealm Gate and into the past. And just as Grima had assured him, the people Lucina had commanded to kill the Risen wouldn’t kill their leader instantly if it was a dear friend of theirs.

Realizing how well Grima had predicted the enemy’s movements made Morgan feel like such a pathetic strategist in comparison.

“What’re you grinnin’ ‘bout?” Brady demanded, his scowling face coming into view. He had a few fresh cuts on his neck; Morgan wasn’t sure if he hadn’t noticed or was trying to conserve his energy for healing more serious wounds.

“It’s just too funny,” said Morgan, his grin widening. “You almost had me think you were going to kill your prince!”

Kjelle didn’t falter at the words, at least not openly, but Brady shrank back, his scowl giving way to a grimace of pain. Gerome’s face was as stoic as always, yet he looked away from the scene. Morgan’s eyes lit up. He could still buy Grima some time. As they spoke here, Grima had more time to slip into the portal, and they were completely unaware. They still hadn’t realized that Grima knew all about their plans to change the past. All they saw was the childish, blindly optimistic Morgan at their mercy; obviously, they still didn’t see him as an enemy.

No, he was still their friend in their minds, and Grima had always said to take advantage of every weakness the enemy exposed. If Morgan was going to be half the tactician that Grima was, he couldn’t ignore his master’s lessons at a crucial moment like this. Perhaps Morgan could even outwit his former friends altogether and reunite with Grima. The thought sent a pleasant chill down his spine.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Morgan said, forcing his smile to fade. His blue eyes darted from Kjelle and then back to Brady, taking care not to make any sudden movements that would alarm his captors. “Grima… If you knew what I knew about Grima…”

Kjelle raised a brow. “Explain yourself.”

It took all his self-control to not burst out laughing. Without him even trying, she had taken the bait; she hoped that he could be saved. For all her bravado, Kjelle was too soft, and Morgan could almost hear Grima’s voice in his head telling him to keep up the act. He couldn’t let down his master, not when he had such an opportunity before him.

Just barely to avoid jostling the spear’s sharp point, Morgan shook his head. “I… I can’t…”

“Whaddya mean, ya can’t?!” Brady’s wooden staff slammed into the cobblestone by Morgan’s head. Morgan flinched in alarm; the movement caused the spear to draw a bit of blood, and Brady cringed. “Ah… Sorry…”

As if it would help calm Morgan down, Brady held his staff behind him, out of Morgan’s sight. Kjelle tilted her head at Morgan, waiting for him to continue. Morgan took a deep breath, as if hesitating, and Kjelle withdrew her spear just a tiny bit. She was still ready to attack at a moment’s notice, but they _pitied_ him. The more pathetic he seemed, the less likely they were to kill him.

“If Lucina knew, it’d be terrible,” Morgan whimpered. He shut his eyes tight, trying to feign holding in tears when he was really trying to suppress laughter. “L-Lucina… My sister can’t ever know… It’d… It’d ruin her…”

Brady shot Gerome a confused look, to which the masked man merely shrugged and leaned against his wyvern. When Kjelle looked Gerome’s way, he gestured for her to continue. Her grip on the spear tightened, and she looked back to Morgan. Though she was scowling at him, there was a certain softness in her eyes. The rage, the willingness to cut him open – it was all was fake.

“We can’t promise that we won’t tell Lucina,” said Kjelle with finality. “She’s our leader – and our friend. Whatever you’ve been hiding from us, she deserves to know.”

Morgan almost shook his head again, but he couldn’t risk Kjelle’s battle reflexes overriding her emotions. Any movements, however small and nonthreatening, could trigger a violent response from Kjelle. They were already on edge enough; Morgan could very well make it worse. Instead, he just deliberately averted her gaze, keeping his voice low and distant.

“Grima… Grima was the one… to kill Chrom.”

The three exchanged shocked glances; Morgan knew they all had heard the story before, of how Chrom had been murdered by “the one he trusted most”. They had probably never suspected that Grima and Chrom’s betrayer were one and the same.

“Yes,” said Morgan, hoping to fuel their panic and confusion. “If Lucina knew, she… she might try to kill Grima instead of preventing–”

“How do you know this?” Gerome growled, crossing his arms.

Morgan’s mind raced to find an answer. “Grima told me – she gloated about how she killed my father and could kill me just as easily if I didn’t cooperate…”

As soon as Morgan spoke, he knew his mistake. His words had been spoken too quickly and with too much certainty; his whole body language had gone from painfully submissive to desperate and panicked. Morgan had shattered his own mask, and they knew it, too. The regret of possibly having to kill a friend left their faces, replaced by suspicion and anger. Perhaps now they regretted ever believing that Morgan was anything more than a pawn of Grima. Despite himself, Morgan gulped, and he could hear Gerome walking closer, his heavy footfalls reminding Morgan of an executioner come to hang a criminal.

“If you try to run, traitor, Minerva will eat you alive,” Gerome hissed. His wyvern grumbled and hissed behind him, thrashing her tail, and Morgan knew the threat wasn’t empty.

“Why would I run?” He allowed the smile to finally show on his face. “I’m done, anyway. Just kill me now.”

With a sharp breath, Kjelle steadied her weapon, and Brady grimaced, shaking his head. He reached out towards Kjelle’s arm, but withdrew and instead let it hang loosely by his side. “Are… Are y’sure we’ve gotta do this? I’m pissed, too, and he tried t’ lie to us an’ all, but… he’s still…”

Brady trailed off, and a multitude of possible endings to his sentence leaped into Morgan’s mind. Lucina’s brother. The prince. A friend. For a second, Morgan could have sworn he saw a flicker of pain across Kjelle’s face, but it vanished just as quickly as it came when Gerome spoke.

“Kjelle, we need to go. Lucina is waiting for us.”

“I know,” said Kjelle. Morgan could feel the tip of her spear digging into his neck, drawing a tiny bit of blood. “But it’s like he said… Lucina must never know of this.”

Morgan’s grin grew broader at her words, but they paid him no mind as they solemnly nodded in agreement. He could have laughed with glee. The less Lucina knew, the better it was for Grima. After all, if they kept quiet about even finding Morgan here to begin with, Lucina and the others would never even have the slightest suspicion that Grima knew about their plans. They would bravely stride through that portal, unaware that they were being shadowed by the very enemy they sought to defeat.

Grima had outwitted them in the end. They were Grima’s pawns, just like Morgan was, even if they were unaware of it.

The pressure on his neck let up, but only for the briefest of moments, and the last thing Morgan saw was the spear plunging towards him.


End file.
